Axiata Group Berhad reported revenue growth of 11.7% to RM11.4 billion and Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation of 12.4% to RM5.1 billion. However, the group reported a net loss of RM576.21 million for the quarter against revenue of RM5.9 billion which was higher compared to the previous year’s quarter.
For the 1H, the group saw its net loss widen to RM579 million versus RM22 million it registered the quarter in the previous year.
The group said the decline in PATAMI was due to a lower share of results from CelcomDigi Berhad of a million compared to Celcom’s contribution as a wholly-owned subsidiary, Ncell’s non-cash asset impairment of million, and capital gains tax write-off of RM317million pursuant to the unfavourable outcome from the Bilateral Investment Treaty Arbitration proceedings in June 2023. The Group continues operating in a persistently challenging macroeconomic environment. PATAMI was supported by a gain of RM402 million from the closing adjustments of the Celcom-Digi merger.
Similarly, the Group’s underlying performance was led by 17.8% growth in YTD revenue ex-device by all OpCos except ADA[and Ncell which flowed through to EBITDA, growing by 18.0%. Underlying PATAMI declined by 83.2% due to higher net finance cost and lower contribution from CDB.
EBITDA uplift helped improve its Net debt/EBITDA to 3.06x from 3.23x in the previous quarter, which if adjusted for the CelcomDigi dividend, would stand at 2.92x. The Group generated an adjusted operating free cashflow of RM601million in 1H23 and the cash balance stood at a healthy RM6.3billion to sustain the Group’s forward going momentum. With the Group’s 1H23 results demonstrating clear topline and margin growth, it broadly expects results to be in line with the year’s headline KPIs.
In addition to the stable performance, the Group has declared a first interim dividend of 5sen per ordinary share which is seen as a commitment to shareholders to reach its 10sen per share dividend target for 2023.
